Grange des Pères

Attaining cult wine status is not an easy feat, and certainly not when the odds are stacked against you. Laurent Vaillé has achieved what others thought impossible. Having spent his early career training under such masters as Jean-François Coche-Dury (Meursault), Gérard Chave (Hermitage), and Eloi Durrbach (Domaine Trévallon, Provence), he settled in the l’Hérault of the Languedoc and purchased his own land in 1989, near Aniane. In this area of the region, where the limestone is hard and abundant and the soil poor, no one thought he would ever have any success planting a vineyard on his plot of choice. Though it took dynamite and bulldozing to clear twice the amount of limestone, boulders, and glacial scree that is found in neighboring vineyards, he found a great terroir for his grapes. He did not have to look far to find ideal bud wood, either. He sourced his Syrah, Marsanne, and Roussane cuttings from Gérard Chave and his Cabernet from Domaine Trévallon. Laurent’s South-facing vines get very low yields, normally from twenty to twenty-five hectoliters per hectare. All are pruned in the gobelet style. The simultaneous restraint and power of his wines makes them ideal for aging. As for the skeptics, they are currently eating their words. His area of the Languedoc has since become known to produce some of the greatest wines in the region, with the new appellation of Terrasses du Larzac, of which he is technically part, reaping attention and praise. In his words, “Nature gave us a partition of land. It is up to us to interpret it.”

VITICULTURE / VINIFICATION

• White varietals are blended before being put into barrels for malolactic fermentation, then aged in demi-muids

• Red varietals are harvested and vinified separately and then aged in 228-L barrels separately. Reds are blended after the wines are fully complete, before settling and bottling.

MISCELLANEA

Visiting Vaillé at his property in the Languedoc is always a memorable experience. First, to the cellar with a pipette, to taste through several vintage in barrel. The blanc, two vintages in demi-muid. Then the rouge, two vintages in barrique, the Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Counoise all separated. Laurent will master the blend in a proportion that satisfies him at some later date. So we try to get an idea for the vintage overall, as we simultaneously dive into the qualities that each cépage brings to the table. Tasting with Laurent is always intellectual, and he says very little, calmly measuring your reactions to the wines he’s patiently nurtured over several years. Occasionally he will venture a comment, and when he does, you listen. Afterwards, we’ll climb out of the cool, deep cellar and join his mother, father, and brother at an old wooden table in the kitchen of their home. If it is wintertime, a fire will be crackling in the hearth. Laurent’s mother is a superb cook, and everything she serves comes from her garden, her poultry farm, or a local hunter. Laurent will invariably bring up an older vintage of his blanc and his rouge, and they will seem as timeless as his mother's cuisine.